Soichi Hashimoto (31 = Park 24), the captain of the men’s Japan national team who won the second place in the previous tournament, ended up with a bronze medal without a smile.

The first unseeded appearance in the fifth appearance. After defeating a Moroccan player in the first round, in the second round, she faced Rasha Shavdatuashvili (Georgia), the world No. 1 silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics.

From the beginning, he was suddenly faced with a difficult opponent, but in the middle stage, he defended the wazaari that he took with the caster and advanced to the third round. In the quarterfinals after winning more, the unexpected result was waiting.

Lost by one to Nils Stumpf (Switzerland). Although he succumbed to the 26-year-old who later won the championship and missed the second gold medal for the first time in six years since 2017, he won the repechage match and advanced to the third-place play-off.

At the end, he defeated Azerbaijan player completely and defended the bronze, which was his third consecutive medal in the stubborn competition. He finished off with a complete win, with a left shoulder drop, and a right body drop, taking a match and ippon. After the match, he said, “I was only aiming for the championship, so it’s really frustrating.”

As it was a tournament after Shohei Ono (31 = Asahi Kasei), who won two consecutive Olympics in this class, announced that he would not aim for the Paris Olympics, he was only looking for results. For that reason, he repeatedly said, “I’m really disappointed,” and said, “But I was able to play the next match. I want to win,” he said, looking to the culmination.